EARLY money on the conference championship games decidedly backs the Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals.
BetMGM was first to report where public money landed on Monday, with the line in the American Football Conference (AFC) Championship Game sliding toward Cincinnati with the status of Chiefs quarterback and National Football League (NFL) MVP frontrunner Patrick Mahomes up in the air.
Kansas City knocked off the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday and hosts the Bengals this weekend in a repeat of the 2022 conference title game. Cincinnati has won the past three meetings with the Chiefs, including a 27-24 victory during the regular season.
More than 80 percent of the handle bet on the spread of the AFC Championship Game is on the Bengals +1. The line at BetMGM and DraftKings opened at Kansas City -2.
As of Monday, 85 percent of bets on the outright winner or money line was on the Bengals. BetMGM dropped the money line from +100 to -105 in the first five hours of wagering on the game.
Massive support for the Eagles, who play host to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, pushed the line from opening at -2 to -3.
Public money on Philadelphia includes 84 percent of the spread handle, and 75 percent of the BetMGM take on the total is on the under (45).
But money line wagers point to some support for the 49ers. Around 56 percent of money line bets back the 49ers (+125), but the total money line handle is 74 percent Philly. — Reuters